Alternate to Russian arms expensive, India tells US

New Delhi, Apr 08: India is said to have conveyed to the United States that the alternative to Russian weapons were too expensive, a report by Bloomberg said.

The report said that India informed US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland of the drawbacks of alternative to Russian weapons.

Further Russian companies were also ready to set up joint ventures with Indian companies which US defence arms are reluctant to do, India reportedly told Nuland. She was in India in March and held discussions with foreign secretary Harsh Shringla. She also held a meeting with External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar.

She is said to have said at the meeting that the Russia-China axis is not good for India and the US can help with defence supplies.

Nuland also said that India should stand against the autocracies like Russia and China. It may be recalled that India and Russia share a historic relationship and it developed at a time when the US was not ready to have that kind of a relationship with India.

The United States on Thursday said that it is ready to become India's reliable supplier. The US reiterated its objection to New Delhi continuing business as usual with Russia and said that it had said clearly to India that the US does not think India should increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities.

The US stands ready to support India in its any efforts to diversify its imports, While House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
"It's an incredibly important diplomatic position. We also engage with countries through a range of channels. And obviously, our deputy National Security Advisor was just in India recently in the last few weeks, conveying clearly what the consequences of violating sanctions would be and what the mechanisms are," she said.

The statement comes in the wake of the US slapping new sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's two daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Putina.

The US has repeated its displeasure with India's continuous engagement with Russia in sectors such as oil and defence.
External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar and Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had defended India's purchase of discounted oil fro Russia. Jaishankar also made it clear in Parliament that India is against the war and New Delhi has chosen the side of peace.